Born on the hudson, twenty-two years goneBred and raised in the cityFrom my daddys knee I learned the union songsBut grandma sang lullabies of dixieAnd though the northern winter fills my heart with joyOh it's a southern sun that shines downOn this yankee boy

Mama dreamed of paris nightsAnd boatin on the seineShe said, were gonna make it there tooSoon as papa comes home againAnd she'd speak to me in broken frenchDressed like a painting of lautrecsIn the night she'd clutch me to her breastAnd say, well make it outta here yetAnd though parisian womenStrut so fine down the eiffel mallIts a southern one I sing my songs for

Well with the local bunch of do-good boysAnd an old man from the westWe crossed the land in the caravanYes we traveled with the bestWith circus acts and vaudeville hacksAnd the mississippi delta queenShe told me the news and sold me her bluesIn an alley in new orleansAnd though the western plains are still stainedWith the blood of great cowboysIts a southern sunThat shine down on this yankee boy